According to lonely planet no city on earth is more alive than Madrid, but i'd have to strongly disagree solely because i've been to cities with the likes of Paris, New York & Las Vegas which i strongly believe are more lively than the Spanish capital. It's no question that Madrid is a captivating city whose sheer energy carries a simple message: this city really knows how to live. This being my 2nd visit to Madrid, i'd say a 3rd visit is due in 2019 as Madrid is such a cosmopolitan city, you would have to visit more than 2 times to be fully satisfied. Madrid Gran Via reminds me of Times Square in New York and Piccadilly Circus in London.
Things To Do
El Retiro Park
Largest park in the city of Madrid with slight similarity to central park in New York. Retiro park has everything to offer from statues, lakes & gardens.
Lake - You could rent a rowboat for a few euros and paddle around the lake, feed the giant grouper fish living in the pond, and also watch the ducks paddling by on the lake’s tranquil water or just feed your eyes by people watching.
Gardens - If gardens are your fancy you'd definitely love Madrid as there are loads of gardens to see especial at the parks.
Statues are definitely one of the many highlights of a vacation as not only do they add to your general historical knowledge, you could also take silly memorable photos with them.
Rent A Pedal Kart /Bike Or Take A Walk
El Retiro park has a lot of green spaces, you could rent bikes and karts from the link below for as little as €7 per hour. Take a walk around the city as it's probably the best way to explore or discovery this amazing city.
https://www.ecomovingsports.com/en/rental/pedal-karts
Shopping
The Gran Via is a hustling and bustling part of the city center, it's the Oxford Street of London, with no shortage of interesting and exciting things to do and see. The most obvious thing to do in this commercial street is, of course, go shopping. Most Spanish brands, both high fashion and high-street fashion are located on this street, as well as some international designers. Primark is definitely worth a visit, as i believe it's the biggest primark store in the world with 4 floors. Other stores such as Zara, Chanel, Dior and Carolina Herrera are worth popping into.
Where To Stay In Madrid
There are numerous hotels to choose from in Madrid, there seem to be a lot of hostels around the city centers if that's your fancy.
As a general rule early bookings & a good organisation is vital because we actually got stranded in Madrid on my 1st night. So as our flight landed in Madrid at midnight (11:45 PM) we thought it would be a great idea to spend the few hours of the night at an hostel before checking into our 5 star hotel the next morning as we would've lost most part of the 1st day if we checked in right after landing, unfortunately due to a lack of proper planning and last minute booking the hostel we booked online that night happened to have been overly booked which meant that even though we got charged for the reservation, there was actually no available rooms. Long story short we got to the hostel struggled to communicate in Spanish at first only to find out there was no rooms available, we got refunded straightaway and decided to find a room for the night, sadly all the hostels in Madrid where overly booked which meant that we ended up spending the night on the street in the cold that night like a typical homeless person, probably one of my worst experiences ever & one of my many untold travel stories.
Hotel Puerta América
A luxury 5-star hotel located close to Madrid city centre, 3-minute walk from Cartagena metro station. I believe it's the cheapest 5 star hotel in Madrid after my findings, it has an exclusive and avant-garde design, by world-famous architects including Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Zaha Hadid. A project that has brought together nineteen of the best architect and designer studios in the world and boasts the work of three Pritzker Prizes, the Nobel of Architecture – (Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and Jean Nouvel). Each of its 12 floors plays with different materials, colors and shapes to create astonishing experience. It's a dream hotel and futuristic just like something out of a galaxy.
